Colorado business leaders remain positive for 2014

December 31, 2013

Jan. 2, 2014 Richard Wobbekind

Swayed by an improving economy and a federal budget compromise, Colorado business leaders’ expectations going into the first quarter of 2014 remain positive, according to the most recent CU-Boulder Leeds Business Confidence Index. The expectations stayed in positive territory for all categories, representing nine consecutive quarters of positive expectations, says Leeds School economist Richard Wobbekind.

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Colorado business leaders remain positive for 2014

Jan. 2, 2014 Richard Wobbekind

Swayed by an improving economy and a federal budget compromise, Colorado business leaders’ expectations going into the first quarter of 2014 remain positive, according to the most recent CU-Boulder Leeds Business Confidence Index. The expectations stayed in positive territory for all categories, representing nine consecutive quarters of positive expectations, says Leeds School economist Richard Wobbekind.

CUT 1 “Colorado business leaders in general have been feeling very optimistic because of the rate of job growth and the overall level of activity in Colorado. Colorado remains in the top five for the fastest growing states in the country in terms of employment. (:15) And probably the most significant change came in the national expectations. That is really fueling this. They have seen the national economy now perhaps turning the corner with GDP growth and with budget issues resolved.” (:27)

The index measures the confidence of Colorado business leaders in six categories, which include the national economy, state economy, industry sales, industry profits, hiring plans and capital expenditures.

CUT 2 “And what we’ve seen is that all of these are in the very positive range and strong. We did see a little bit of a dip in the sales and profitability index. Those are the only two that came down at all – they came down a little bit. (:14) What we actually saw, something we were very pleased about, was an uptick in terms of capital expenditures and hiring. This tells us they really in the back of their minds are pretty confident that they are going to go ahead and put more money into machinery and people. It’s indicating that they feel that the recovery is real and that it’s going to be sustained.” (:30)

Wobbekind says another key component to the optimism expressed by state business leaders is that employment growth is broad-based.

CUT 3 “Another piece of the optimism on the state economy is not just this strong employment growth but the fact that the employment growth is very broad-based. Virtually every industry sector is gaining jobs right now. (:13) And so this gives you confidence. No matter which industry you are in you’re seeing growth within your industry sector.”